El Paso's Helen of Troy repurchasing $245.7 million of its stock to increase share value

Repurchase aimed at raising value

Helen of Troy expects to buy back $245.7 million of its stock in an auction that ended Monday, the El Paso consumer products company announced Tuesday.

The company expects to acquire almost 3.7 million shares of its stock at $66.50 per share, preliminary auction results indicate.

The share price and number of shares being repurchased won't become final until the results are verified by Computershare, a stock transfer agent based in Australia. The final results could be announced as early as Thursday, Helen of Troy reported.

The shares sold in the auction represent 11.5 percent of the company's outstanding shares. The number of shares sold was less than the maximum of about 4.5 million shares the company's board authorized to be sold in the auction for up to $300 million.

The El Paso company began the auction February 10 as part of a plan to repurchase up to $550 million of the company's stock over three years.

The stock repurchase is part of a Helen of Troy board of directors' plan to enhance long-term value for shareholders, the board announced in February.

The repurchase plan came less than a month after Helen of Troy founder Gerald Rubin suddenly retired as the company's chief executive officer and board chairman. Julien Mininberg, head of Helen of Troy's Healthcare/Home Environment products division, was named CEO, and took over the job March 1.

Helen of Troy's stock closed Tuesday at $66.58 per share on the New York Stock Exchange. That's up only three cents per share from Monday's closing price, and eight cents per share above the company's repurchase price in its month-long auction.

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The company, with annual sales of more than $1 billion, develops and sells hair dryers, hair shampoos, humidifiers, household gadgets and other consumer products under well-known national-brands, including Revlon, Vicks, and Oxo. It employs about 1,500 people, including about 500 at its West El Paso headquarters.